u8-9 boys team...

[Alan S]

Ok, had the first practice with my U8 boys team
today. Most are really good dribblers and some
were even passing during the scrimmage.

It looks like we need to work on shooting on
goal especially when under pressure.

Does anyone have good games/drills for this.
I would like to start it off with shooting without
pressure, that add a defender that they need to
get past to shoot.

(We are talking stictly inside of the foot shoots
here. We want to get that in-grained before
doing the in-step "laces" passes.)

I'll look at the web-sites earlier in the thread
soon.

[Elroy]

Originally posted by Alan S
(We are talking stictly inside of the foot shoots
here. We want to get that in-grained before
doing the in-step "laces" passes.)


Buzz! Wrong answer! You should start with instep kicking, as kids this age generally lack the strength to pass any reasonable distance at all with the inside of the foot.

It is a common fallicy to think that younger players cannot learn beyond the simplest fundamentals of the game. Teach the game, let the kids absorb what they can. Some of the things that you think that they don't get will pop back into their heads later on. It may not help you now, but some coach down the line ( and the kids ) will be grateful that you didn't set any artificial limits.

[Alan S]

Originally posted by Elroy
Buzz! Wrong answer! You should start with instep kicking, as kids this age generally lack the strength to pass any reasonable distance at all with the inside of the foot.

Well it is our intention to teach control first. We want the kids to get in the habit of keeping the ball under control, before they start booting it down the field. We will teach the in-step later in the season. (And they already had it in U7, anyway)

I think we will just need to agree to disagree on this.

Any good drills for shooting on goal?

[Elroy]

Originally posted by Alan S


Well it is our intention to teach control first. We want the kids to get in the habit of keeping the ball under control, before they start booting it down the field. We will teach the in-step later in the season. (And they already had it in U7, anyway)

I think we will just need to agree to disagree on this.

Any good drills for shooting on goal?

There's always the good old four line drill. Two lines of servers with two lines of shooters. Alternate servers and shooters, change serving angles and approaches on the ball. Use kids to serve - this adds to their training. Add defenders later and play a varietion of the old UNC "kill" drill.

Later, you could practice breakaways. One defender facing one dribbler with a following attacker and a defender chasing from slightly further.

There's lots of things that you could do with two portable goals. You can play "goal in the middle" with a Coerver goal - where teams shoot from both sides of the net.

As to control... Why can't you teach your players to control the instep drive? They'll learn sooner or later anyway, so why not sooner? Teach the whole game!

[boydreilly]

Originally posted by Elroy

As to control... Why can't you teach your players to control the instep drive? They'll learn sooner or later anyway, so why not sooner? Teach the whole game!

I agree with Elroy here. The in-step is so much more important. They should be using the in-step almost 90% of the time. I spend 5 to 10 minutes of every practice having them in-step and trapping.

They need that in-step pounded into their heads.

[boydreilly]

A drill I like to do for shooting on goal is to have two lines - one 20 yards out and the other 25 yards out. The 20 yard kid starts with a ball and the kid from the 25 yard gives chase. I'd also put a cone on the six yard line that is the farthest the shooter is allowed to progress.

Basically, they will need to dribble fast, but with control. They also learn they can't take long to shoot or they will be stripped of the ball.

The only complications is getting the kids to go around the drills when returning to the lines. It is good to have parents help here.

[ripmstr]

A great game I have played with U-7's and up.

2 equal teams split and about yards either side of 5 evenly spaced cones.

The first two players run straight ahead about 15 yrds to a cone turning inward towards two spaced cones (think of 2 inverse and upside down L's). At this point they are facing the 5 evenly spaced cones.

As they are making the run to the inside cones roll, toss or bounce a ball to them. They battle till the ball is knocked away or a cone is knocked down. The goal is to knock down a goal with a shot.

You combine fitness, a physical challange, creativity, defending and shooting.

I hope this makes sense.

[DC Braveheart]

Originally posted by fidlerre
thanks for the suggestions...

any drills you could provide, or possibly a site out there on the web, would be great!

Here's one I use a lot - http://www.finesoccer.com . You can sign up for weekly newletters (you'll want the Kids newsletter - but the other are also interesting) and can also look back in the archives for games/drills published earlier.

Good luck coaching - it's one of the most rewarding experiences I've had!

[Alan S]

Originally posted by Elroy
As to control... Why can't you teach your players to control the instep drive? They'll learn sooner or later anyway, so why not sooner? Teach the whole game!

Maybe we are miscommunicating on this. We will definitely teach the in-step, but here I'm looking for drills/games for just our second practice of the season.

We had half of these same kids at the U7 level, and it was a fun group. One thing I saw at U7 that I want to avoid at U8 is the "kick and run" where the player kicks a 50/50 ball up field and runs after it.

We are teaching the concept of the "arm umbrella" to the kids to encourage them to keep the ball close. The idea is to put your arms out and image that as an umbrella. While running with the ball you need to keep it under the umbrella.


Typically about 1/3 of practice will be a scrimmage.

[18 panel ball]

Here is a site that is really useful for developing practices. It breaks down soccer skills in an expected developmental sequence.
http://www.thecoachingcorner.com/soccer/components/index.html

With this information I know what the kids can handle and where to build their shortcomings.